


Can't Find My Way (Home)

by akire_yta



Category: Disney RPF, Skippy - Fandom
Genre: AU, M/M, Roadtrip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-29
Updated: 2013-08-10
Packaged: 2017-12-23 00:08:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/919667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akire_yta/pseuds/akire_yta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It starts with two nerds, a crappy van, a Youtube account and a need to get out. It ends up being two boys in love, a best friend with a cluebat, a maybe-not-so-bad-after-all van and a Youtube account.  For SDS SLB2012</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: passing references to both experienced and internalized homophobia (including homophobic slurs), a severe lack of plot, one or two swear words and gratuitous abuse of twitter.
> 
> This is otherwise known as ‘that road trip’ fic, or alternatively ‘the one where aki pikes out of every scene and handwaves every plot point in favour of making fake tweets.’ Crack. Pure plotless crack. Title from the song of the same name by Steve Winwood. Beta provided by the lovely sin_fuego, all remaining mistakes and Briticisms are my own!
> 
> This fic got two amazeballs FSTs, which can be found [yonder](http://verbosemofo.livejournal.com/47355.html).

  
* * *

@HeyItsNicoleA Two nerds and a van.  And we’re filming it.  What could go wrong? <view video> #KevandNicsEpicRoadtrip

  
* * *

Nic woke him with a cup of take out coffee and her laptop tucked under her arm. “I've got something to show you,” she said, sitting on the end of his hotel bed with her ankles tucked up demurely beneath her.

Kevin scrubbed his hair off his face, patted the bedside table until he found his glasses, and sat up to glare at her blearily. “Thanks for the coffee, but whatever it is, couldn't it have waited until consciousness?”

Wordlessly, Nic turned her little computer around and plopped it onto the covers in front of him.

Kevin scalded his mouth as he stared at the impossible number below their video. “Oh my...” 

Nic nodded, eyes wide as she sipped her coffee. “We should probably have warned our agents.”

Kevin groaned and reached to the bedside table again for his phone.

* * *

@HeyItsNicoleA Hey guys, thanks for checking out our holiday video!  #KevandNicsEpicRoadtrip is a go!

@kevinjonas @HeyItsNicoleA that’s if our van makes it up the next hill

@HeyItsNicoleA @kevinjonas oh yea of little faith. if it can’t do it, we’ll just go along the coast.

@kevinjonas @HeyItsNicoleA canada or mexico?

@HeyItsNicoleA @kevinjonas why not both?

* * *

The van belched smoke and died in a parking lot in Santa Monica.  Nic kicked a tire.  “Why,” she asked the van, opening the back door so Fendi could jump down. “Couldn’t you have died near the beach so we could have gone swimming?”  Kevin was kind of worried about Nic’s relationship to their van.  She’d already named it Sunshine.

Kevin was tending towards ‘Evil Piece of Crap’ himself, but when he’d suggested it, Nic had just sighed and told him that this was why they needed to do a roadtrip, get away from it all for a while.  “Get your sunny disposition back, Kevin.  Ooh, I know, Sunshine.  We’ll call her Sunshine!”  And that was that.

They hadn’t even made it out of the state.  Kevin felt strangely vindicated.

Nic was not sunny now as she dropped her sunglasses on her nose and looked around to see what was nearby.  “If not the beach, then why not in front of a mechanic?” she asked the world.

Kevin was already on his iPhone, trying to see where the nearest mobile mechanic was.  He hoped they worked Sundays, otherwise, they were stuck in this parking lot overnight.  “We need to learn to use the tools in the trunk,” he told Nic without looking up.

“Hey,” a new voice asked.  “Are you guys okay?” 

* * *

@HeyItsNicoleA #KevandNicsEpicRoadtrip was almost over til we were saved by our own Mr Fixit (who doesn’t have a twitter!)

@kevinjonas @HeyItsNicoleA he says he doesn’t, but he was smirking.  I think he’s holding out on us!

@HeyItsNicoleA @kevinjonas well, he’s agreed to come with us to continue serving as Mr Fixit

@kevinjonas @HeyItsNicoleA so if we die mysteriously on a back road, blame Mike, our twitterless mechanic!

* * *

Mike had stolen a pillow and a blanket and made a comfortable nest on the bench seat alongside Fendi.  He leaned forward to rest his arms on the back of the front seat.  “So, you guys are planning to just drive around America?”

Nic twisted and offered him her bag of red vines.  “Pretty much.  My last job just finished, and nothing new appealed, and Kevin here is on a bit of a life hiatus-”  Kevin snorted but didn’t argue.  “-So we decided to do a cultural tour of America.”

“Cultural tour?” Mike asked with a laugh.

Nic nodded enthusiastically.  “Real America!  The roadside diners and the urban legends and all that cool stuff.  We’ve been documenting it for posterity on Youtube,” she added.

Mike made a face.  “I hate being filmed.”

“Perfect,” Kevin deadpanned, indicating the turn to take them off the highway.  “You can hold the camera.”

* * *

@kevinjonas Picnic by a waterfall! <view picture>

@HeyItsNicoleA I’ve been trying to dare him to go skinny-dipping! RT @kevinjonas  Picnic by a waterfall! <view picture>

@kevinjonas @HeyItsNicoleA Not while you have a camera in hand, missy!

@HeyItsNicoleA @kevinjonas  Aww.  And Mike is mocking us for tweeting when we’re sitting next to each other. He is yet to learn the bird is the word!

  
* * *

Kevin was laughing, and Mike followed him as best he could with Nic’s little flip camera.  “The gold rush may be over, but the ghosts of fallen miners still haunt these tunnels!” he declared dramatically.  On cue, Mike started to shake the camera.  “Oh no, there’s one!” Kevin yelled.  Nic screamed, and Mike dropped the camera on Kevin’s folded hoodie.  The three of them then ran away.  They hit the end of the tunnel laughing and panting a little in the dry dusty air.  “Seriously, this is what you guys do?” Mike asked as they turned and walked back to their pile of things.

Nic nodded and looped her arm in his.  “It is our  duty to bring these forgotten places to life.  Besides, it’s better than going ‘this is a rock. We sat on it,’ isn’t it?”

As they sat on the tailgate of the van, reviewing and editing the footage on Nic’s laptop, Mike kind of had to agree that it was.  Nic had to climb onto the roof of the van to get a strong enough signal to send the video.  “It’s up,” she called down a minute later.

Kevin clapped.  “Need a hand getting down?”

“No,” she called back airily.  “It’s nice up here.”

That’s how they ended up on top of Sunshine, making up stupid stories about fake constellations until they fell asleep.

* * *

@HeyItsNicoleA So you guys like ghost stories!  Mike taught Kevin a new word when he saw the # of hits.

@kevinjonas @HeyItsNicoleA Good word, too.  It’s <beep>.

@HeyItsNicoleA @kevinjonas  We really need to get Mike on twitter, if only to get the uncensored version.

@kevinjonas @HeyItsNicoleA  twitterverse, your challenge, should you choose to accept it....

@siskybusiness @kevinjonas @HeyItsNicoleA tell the idiot the password’s in his inbox (and I’ll call him back tonight)

@kevinjonas @siskybusiness We saw the account.  Nic is still laughing.  I think you’re her new hero (he says hi back)

Nic nagged at Mike to start using the twitter account.  Mike threatened to throw her into the ocean.  Kevin just turned the stereo up as the bickered all the way into Oregon.

He pulled up off the highway at some unknown inlet -- it was a point of honour for them already not to open the maps Chelsea had given them as a going away present -- and went to fetch a towel.  It was too cold to swim already, but the sun was out and the air was pleasantly cool rather than chilly.

Nic and Mike’s teasing argument followed him, fading as he wandered up the beach.  To his left, the shallow spread of the river was spilling into the ocean, and he took off his shoes and waded in a little to cool his toes before he turned around.  There were some rocks in the distance that looked kind of interesting, and he left Nic and Mike to keep doing whatever they were doing.  They could wait a while.  There was no hurry, no-one needed them.

The air was brisk, tangy with salt, and the breeze tugged at his hair as he strode along the sun-warmed sands.  It felt good to be walking, and apart from Nic and Mike fading into the distance behind him, there was no-one in sight.

All Kevin had just said to Nic was that he had wanted to drop off the map for a while.  He didn’t realize how good it would feel to actually make that a reality.  There were smaller rocks poking out of the sand as he approached the outcrop, and Kevin considered wading out to the larger rocks that tracked along the coast.  In the end, he stood on the shoreline, his back to the empty road, and felt the tide suck at his toes as he stared at the monoliths.  Their bases were worn narrow by the waves, but still they were standing strong.

“I feel there’s a metaphor here someone,” he said to the footsteps coming up behind him.

Mike was shrugging as he came to stop besides Kevin, Nic on his other side.  “True.  And we could stand here discussing that.  Or we can take stupid perspective photos of each other holding them up.”

Kevin laughed and took his phone out of his pocket.

@kevinjonas Super @HeyItsNicoleA and Capt @shitcardensays saving rocks from...well, whatever rocks fear <view picture>

182 Retweets 150 Favorites

  
They stayed on the beach until sunset.  Kevin shuffled over to make room on his towel for Mike as Nic chased Fendi through the low dunes.  “You realize now you’ve made a friend for life,” he said.

Mike nodded, wiping his hands on his jeans.  “Dogs are easy like that.  One tennis ball is all it takes.”   They watched Nic yell and chase Fendi, and be chased by him.  “Are we camping, or should we keep driving for a motel?”

Kevin shrugged.  “I haven’t seen a car all afternoon.  I vote camp.”

Mike nodded amiably.  “Does that little cooker stove in the back work?”

Kevin shrugged again. “I guess we’ll find out.”

Mike laughed.  “This is going to be an interesting trip.  Did you guys just buy a van and go?”

Kevin turned to look at Mike.  He was in profile, the setting sun casting a golden glow over his dark hair.  “Something like that.  But what about you?”  The question had been gnawing at the back of Kevin’s mind for days.  “I mean, aside from the whole stranger-danger thing.  You just upped and came with.  You don’t have anywhere you need to be?”

Mike’s shoulder lifted and fell, a tiny motion.  “Something like that,” he said, echoing Kevin’s words. He sighed and turned to look at Kevin.  “I guess I’m like you and Nic.  I had nowhere I wanted to be, nothing specific I wanted to do, so why not take the chance, see the world, take the back road.  You offered, I came with.  Besides,” he added, looking away again to where Nic was wrestling with Fendi in the sand.  “Who else is gonna keep that yellow, evil piece of crap working.”

“That’s what I wanted to call it!” Kevin said, delightedly.

They were already laughing when Fendi, covered in sand and seaweed, plowed into them.

@shitcardensays @HeyItsNicoleA Your dog is nuts <view picture>

@HeyItsNicoleA My dog is perfect.  And welcome to the world of tweeting people you’re standing next to :)

@shitcardensays @HeyItsNicoleA shit.  stockholmed.

42 Retweets 12 Favorites

  
* * *

They drove on, taking turns driving as Evil Piece of Sunshine (they’d compromised on the name) ate up the miles.  Kevin sat in the front passenger seat, window down and eyes closed as he leaned into the breeze.  Mike was humming along to the song playing quietly on the stereo, and the click of Nic’s keyboard played counterpoint to the rhythm as she typed on her laptop.  She’d built a nest on the back bench seat with all their pillows and Fendi.  Kevin had already made plans to steal it next stop.  But for now, he was happy to sit with the sun on his face.

He felt the van slow and swing as Mike took them off the highway.  “Let’s take the coast road, huh?” Mike said as they felt the asphalt underneath the wheels change.

Kevin opened his eyes and grinned.  “Now you’re getting it.  Hey, slow down, what does that sign say?”

“Beach access,” Mike read.  “Pitstop?”

They ended up driving through a little beachside holiday town and getting ice creams before pulling up in a parking lot high above the beach.  “Lots of steps down,” Mike noted, leaning over the railing as he licked his cone.

Kevin looked at Nic.  “You know what this means, right?”

Nic handed him her cone and went to the van for the camera and Fendi’s leash.

They took turns faking a slow-motion run up the stairs and into frame, holding up their dripping ice creams like Olympic torches.  They then went down to the beach and Mike hummed ‘Eye of the Tiger’ as Kevin and Nic faked their own dog-training montage sequence.

Sticky, covered in sand and dog-slobber, and grinning, they slowly made their way back to the Evil Piece of Sunshine.

@HeyItsNicoleA It’s The Eye of the Dooooggggiiiieeee! <view video>

@HeyItsNicoleA 40000 views in 12hrs. you guys are insane, in the best possible way. Wanna try for 80000 in 24? 

@HeyItsNicoleA Best. Ever.


	2. Chapter 2

Evil Piece of Sunshine’s brakes squealed, and Kevin flung out his arm to stop Fendi from flying off the backseat.  “What? What!” he yelped as he untangled himself from the backseat nest.

Nic was cackling, and even Mike was laughing.  He pointed through the windshield.

Kevin craned his neck.  His eyes widened.  


  
He grinned slowly and leaned over the front seats to snap a picture.  “Oh, please tell me it’s open.”

It was open.  They all knew what they had to do.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Mike griped as he checked the camera was ready.

Nic patted his shoulder.  “Just hit your mark and say your lines, darling,” she told him.  He pouted and she laughed and took pity on him.  “You’ve already done a Rocky montage,  I think this is actually a step up.”

They all crouched around the fake-looking cracked eggs, each big enough that they could probably take a nap inside.  Mike hit record on the remote and pocketed it.  Kevin tried to look serious.  “Oh my God. Do you know what this is? This is a dinosaur egg. The dinosaurs are breeding!”

A lot of running, fake screaming, and five takes of a glass of water not vibrating, they were done.

Mike was actually  giggling .  Kevin thought it was the most awesome sound ever.  “We better get across the border,” he said as they piled back into the van.  “Before the Oregon State police ride us out of town.”

“That would be cool,” Nic said, claiming the backseat nest and plugging the camera into a laptop.  “We haven’t done a Western yet.”

@shitcardensays I take no responsibility for what @HeyItsNicoleA is about to unleash

@HeyItsNicoleA Another installment of #NicMikeandKevsRoadTrip ! <view video>

@shitcardensays @kevinjonas @HeyItsNicoleA that many people watch these? your fans are crazy

@kevinjonas @shitcardensays crazy awesome! :) :) :)

@HeyItsNicoleA @shitcardensays your fans too now - read the comments!

@shitcardensays no comment

@kevinjonas Mike Carden blushes beautifully, and I finally have proof! <view photo>

Retweeted by @siskybusiness and 88 others

  
* * *

Evil Piece of Sunshine made it almost to Astoria before it began belching smoke.  “Fuel filter, I think,” Mike said, wiping his hands on a rag.  “I’ll need a part to fix it.” 

They coaxed the van into one of those towns that seemed to grow like mushrooms beside the highway, and left Evil Piece of Sunshine with a mechanic who seemed to like them just for the name of their van.

“Dairy Queen,” Mike pointed out as they walked up the grimy, chilly street.  “That’s real tour food.”

Nic gave Kevin a pointed look; they knew Mike had toured as a musician, but none of them had talked about their pasts too much after that day in Santa Monica.  He shook his head, and she poked him with a finger.  “Who’s hungry?” Kevin said instead.

They ended up eating on weathered picnic tables in a scrubby park on the other side of the DQ’s parking lot, not saying a lot.  Nic looked between them and sighed in disgust.  “I need to go buy girl things.  I’ll meet you back at the mechanics in an hour.  Take Fendi for me, I don’t think they’ll let him in the store.”  She got up, taking her tray with her.  Her dog watched her go, then laid down under the table between Mike and Kevin’s feet.

Mike watched her go.  “She pissed you’re not doing her interrogation for her?”

Kevin laughed.  “She’s not subtle, is she.”  He poked at the sauces left over in his burger wrapper with an over-salted french fry.  “But she’s right, isn’t she?  I know you said you’re a musician, and you’d toured.  That’s it.”

Mike sighed, and Kevin knew that sound.  It was longing and regret and history and resignation all rolled into one.  “I was a musician.  Don’t know if I still am.”

Kevin scrunched a napkin between his fingers.  “I figure,” he said slowly, rubbing the grease into his skin.  “If you think of yourself as a musician first whenever anyone asks that stupid question, then you are a musician.  End of story.”

Mike scowled and poked at the ice in his coke viciously with his straw.  “Then what do you call a musician that can’t write music to play.”

“Frustrated,” Kevin said heavily, and Mike laughed, jolted out of his gathering bad mood.

“B- my old writing partner,” Mike stuttered out. “He’s off doing solo stuff, and it’s good.  But it’s like, he didn’t even blink, after the split.  And I want to write good stuff too, but...”

Kevin held up his own straw.  “If the next words out of your mouth are any variation of he was the talented one or he had the mojo, I will tie you up in the front seat and put something on the stereo that Nic just  has to sing along to.”

Mike raised an eyebrow.  He’d heard Nic’s singing.  “Ouch.  Harsh.”

Kevin shrugged at stared at the garish paper bag, stained now with grease.  “Giving you the benefit of my experience.” He winced and tried to get back from the edge their conversation was skating close to.

Mike cleared his throat as the pause extended.  “Wanna go get junk food for the road and see what the worst CD is we can find to subject Nic to on her next driving leg?”  He seemed just as discomforted as Kevin by the turn of the conversation.

Kevin nodded and scooped up their rubbish as Mike took Fendi’s leash.

* * *

@HeyItsNicoleA Washington State, we are in you! <view photo>

@HeyItsNicoleA Ok, someone explain the whole “are in you” joke to @shitcardensays. He was raised by wolves and is an innocent when it comes to memes

  
“We should go to the border,” Mike declared as they crawled along, trying to see the road through the pelting rain.

“We should go somewhere warmer,” Nic corrected.  She was huddled in the back under nearly every blanket they had, hugging Fendi.

Kevin ignored her.  He was still grumpy that she’s stolen his blanket too.  He hunched over the heater.  “Why the border?”

Mike shrugged.  “I’ve never been here.”

It was a good enough reason as any.  They drove to the border.

The rain eased to a fine, misting drizzle as they pulled up in a parking lot within sight of the checkpoint between the US and Canada.  “What’s that?” Mike asked, nodding at some monument set in carefully manicured gardens as he opened his door.

“You’re going out in this?” Kevin asked, wincing at the gust of cold air coming in through Mike’s door.

Mike hopped out and flicked up his hoodie.  “It’s just water.  Coming?”

“No,” Nic moaned, sounding muffled under all her layers.

“Okay,” Mike said, slamming the door shut.

Kevin glanced at Nic, but could see nothing but a lump under all their covers.  Zipping up his own hoodie, Kevin jumped out of the Evil Piece of Sunshine and hurried after Mike.

He caught up with Mike at the base of the monument.  Kevin tilted his head back too, shading his face with his hand against the splatters of rain.  “Children of a Common Mother,” he read aloud.  “Nice.  Vaguely epic, with hints of myth, but all without saying anything truly meaningful.”

Mike laughed softly, hands stuffed in the pockets of his hoodie.  “I grew up in Chicago.  On the lakes, you could look across into Canada.  And when we were kids, and things were all going to shit, we’d say ‘I’m gonna run away to Canada.’”  He scuffed the sodden ground with his sneaker.  “But then you grow up and discover you can’t run away, not really, because you’re still there.”

Kevin kept his eyes on the Arch, feeling uncomfortable.  “Vaguely epic, but with hints of myth.  Mike Carden, man of unexpected depths.”

Mike snorted and shoved Kevin hard enough to make him stagger sideways.  “Fuck you.  Come on, let’s see if we can get a picture on the border for your crazy twitter people.”

Kevin smiled and together they squished through the wet grass towards the border.

@shitcardensays Almost Canada.  Tour verdict: vaguely epic. <view photo>

  
* * * 

They’re somewhere full of trees in Idaho when Nic’s cell starts blaring.  Kevin answers it for her, leaning out of range as Nic snaps her fingers, one hand on the wheel and one eye still on the road.  “Nic’s phone, her slave and kept boy speaking.”  There was an unintelligible babble through the tiny speaker.

He blinked and his eyes widened.  “Uh, pull over.  It’s your manager,” he told Nic, clearing his throat awkwardly.  “Just a moment, ma’am.”

Mike opened the back door, letting Fendi jump down to sniff at the trees.  Kevin got out and joined them for a walk along the gravel shoulder as Nic had her conversation.  

She was doing a little dance by the Evil Piece of Sunshine when they got back.  “Good news?” Mike asked dryly, undoing Fendi’s lead so that he could race over to pounce on his mistress.

“Kinda,” Nic said, standing up from where she had knelt to cuddle Fendi.  She pushed her hair out of her eyes.  “My agent has a job, little, but it was a part I missed out on first time.  Apparently tomorrow’s headlines are going to be about how to get fired from a film in one easy drug deal.”

“Ouch,” Mike said.  “So, filming...”

She winced.  “It’s not the lead role, so they only need me for two weeks.  Starting tomorrow,” she added, her nose wrinkling up.  “But then I can come back.”  There was a hopeful note in her voice.

Kevin came forward and hugged her.  “Of course.  That sounds awesome.  Now, where do we need to have you by tomorrow.”

They opened the maps for the first time all trip, and plotted a route to Boise.  Kevin took the wheel, Mike navigating, as Nic curled up in the back with her phone and laptop and started organizing flights and scripts and details.

They made it to the airport with an hour to spare.  “I hope the hotel I’m in has laundry service,” Nic joked weakly, stuffing clothes into a bag.

“Who cares, you’re going to be wearing wardrobe clothes anyway,” Kevin teased, sitting on the side-door step.

Nic nodded and tossed her bag out. She handed over her carry-on, heavy with her laptop, and stepped down onto the pavement outside the airport.  Mike took her bag, and the three of them walked into the airport and checked her in.

“Security is staring,” Mike noted as they sat down at a Starbucks to wait for Nic’s flight to be called.  “Fans?”

Nic giggled.  “Have you looked in a mirror lately.  Probably wondering who the dirty hippies in the rusted van are.”

Then it was time.  Nic hugged them both fiercely outside of security.  “Take care of my dog, have awesome adventures, and YouTube it so I can follow along,” she said, poking them both for emphasis.

Kevin kissed her cheek.  “See you in two weeks.  Knock ‘em dead.”

They stayed and watched her disappear behind the security barrier.  “Now what?”  Mike asked.

Kevin shrugged.  “What’s Boise famous for?”

Mike looked at him.  “Fucked if I know.”

“Wanna find out?” Kevin asked with a small smile.

Mike had a  look in his eye.  “Yeah.  But first, there’s something we’ve got to do.  We’re gonna need a park.  And today’s newspaper.”

@kevinjonas so @HeyItsNicoleA had to fly home for a job.  LA, say hi to her, she’ll be back soon.

@kevinjonas in the meantime, we have her dog. Pay the ransom and no-one gets slobbered on <view video>

Retweeted by @shitcardensays and +100 others

  
* * * 

The van felt way bigger than it should have with only one less person in it.  Mike pointed them east, and they drove maybe 40 miles without saying a word.  Kevin twisted around; Fendi was curled up in the corner, his head resting on Nic’s pillow.  Kevin reached and stretched to rub his fingertips along the bumps of Fendi’s head.

He frowned at a sound all too familiar after half a lifetime touring with his brothers.  “Did you...?”  he asked, turning to Mike.  Then the smell hit him.  “Dude, gross,” he laughed, flopping back into his seat to fumble with the window winder.

“He who smelt it, dealt it,” Mike grinned.

Kevin craned his neck to breath fresh air through the crack in the window.  “What are you, twelve?”

Mike smiled smugly.

Kevin wrinkled his nose and relaxed.  Mike burst out laughing.  “Dude!  The Russian judge gives it a nine.”

Kevin was giggling, stupid with it all.  “I’d like to thank the Academy and too much fast food,” he laughed.

“Wait,” Mike said, wriggling a little in the seat.  Kevin was laughing even as he almost had to hang his head out of the window to find breathable air.

“You suck!” he howled as he sat back in his seat, still leaning towards the window.

Behind them, they heard Fendi’s tail twitch, brushing against the blankets.  There was a noise.  “He didn’t?” Mike asked, glancing in the rearview mirror.

Kevin turned and almost gagged on the smell.  “Holy smokes, pull over, dear sweet jesus.”

Mike guided the Evil Piece of Sunshine off the main road and onto a gravel parking lot, and they all piled out.  “Dog wins,” Mike declared.

Fendi jumped down and sat by the van, looking indescribably smug.  “What are we feeding you?” Kevin asked him.  Fendi just barked.  Kevin sighed and reached in to find Fendi’s lead. “Walkies?”

They left the van parked and walked down the street and into the little town that was clinging to the side of the highway.  Kevin didn't bother to clip Fendi's lead on, just let him have his head to sniff around.  "Trying to air out the dog?" Mike asked.

Kevin laughed and shrugged, and they walked slowly, side by side up the road as Fendi zigged and zagged around them.  "Trains," Kevin pointed out the short sequence of carriages left waiting on a siding.

"You ever have the hobo dream," Mike asked, leaning down to scoop up a stick.  He threw it, and Fendi gave him a dirty look and ignored it.  “Fuck you too, dog.”

Kevin shook his head.  “You threw it, you fetch it.  What’s the hobo dream?”

Mike kept his eyes on the stationary train.  “Sneak away in the dead of night and hop on a train, so that when dawn came, you’d be somewhere new.  Away from...whatever.  You didn’t know where, you’d just let the train carry you.”

Kevin hummed a few bars of ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ until Mike gave him a shove.  “Run away to Canada, on trains, with us.  I’m sensing a pattern, Carden.”

“Says the guy who dumped his life to ride around in a crappy van with his best friend, a hitcher, and a stinking dog,” Mike shot back a little hotly.

“Guilty as charged,” Kevin said without equanimity.  Together, they drifted across the crunchy dead grass to look at the train tracks spreading out in both directions.  “In the hobo dream, do you ever stop?” he asked softly.

“I don’t think so,” Mike replied, just as quietly.  “Not if you don’t want to.”

Kevin felt his lips quirk in an involuntary smile.  “Nice dream.”

Fendi came over and dropped the stick at Mike’s feet.  They threw it for him and headed back to the van as a train whistle blew in the distance.

@shitcardensays burrs are fucking hard to get out of long dog fur, just so you know

@HeyItsNicoleA @shitcardensays WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY DOG!

@kevinjonas @HeyItsNicoleA made him pull the van a few hundred miles

@shitcardensays @kevinjonas @HeyItsNicoleA whipping didn’t work, but hang a treat over his nose and he’d go all day <view photo>

Retweeted by @HeyItsNicoleA and 66 others

@kevinjonas @HeyItsNicoleA how’s filming going.

@HeyItsNicoleA @kevinjonas great.  but I miss you and fluffybutt.  Oh, and my dog too :)

@kevinjonas @HeyItsNicoleA @shitcardensaid just did the most  adorable sniffy face, I wish I’d got it on camera :)

Retweeted by @siskybusiness and 12 others


	3. Chapter 3

Kevin was the one who saw the sign.  “‘Craters of the Moon,’” he read out.

Mike lifted his head from where he’d been texting someone.  “We gonna check it out?”

Kevin grinned and started looking ahead for the turning.  “If there are no little green men, I’m gonna be disappointed,” he joked.  Mike put away his phone.  Kevin glanced sideways; Mike had been scowling at it for the past half hour.  “You okay?”

Mike nodded.  “Bill’s just tweeting out his new tour dates.”

“Oh,” Kevin breathed.   He knew that feeling very well.  “We going here as tourists, or wanna do a video?” he asked instead.

Mike shrugged.  “Ask me when we get there.”

They drove on in silence until they saw the turn-off for the Park and the Visitors Centre.  Mike turned around in his seat to glance at Fendi, napping in the back.  “Hey, think they’ll let us in with Fendi?”

Kevin pulled up outside a low, dark brown brick building, surrounded by tussocky scrub .  “We’ll ask,” he said easily, turning off the engine.  “You coming in?”

Mike shook his head and reached for Fendi’s lead.  “I’ll sit with him, let him get some air, he’s been cooped up all day, poor guy.”

Kevin grinned as he loped up the stairs to the visitors centre.  He suspected Nic might have to arm-wrestle Mike for Fendi’s affections when she got back.

He came out ten minutes later with maps and a camping pass.  “Fendi’s fine on a lead, and on the main paths,” he announced to the pair lounging against the Evil Piece of Sunshine’s tailgate.  “Guy said just pick a campsite, it’s pretty empty out there, he said.”

There was one tent, pitched on the far side of the grounds.  Mike drove them past it and around the ring road far enough that they lost sight of the other campers.  “How about here?” Mike asked, pulling up.

Kevin leaned out.  “Campsite 39, we are in you,” he announced, reading the label.

Mike shook his head as he cut the engine.  “Seriously, what does this ‘we are in you’ shit mean, anyway?” he grouched, still sounding a little too grumpy for Kevin’s tastes.  

Kevin didn’t argue when Mike grabbed Fendi’s lead.  “Here, take our registration card back to the main office, would you?” he asked instead, holding out the papers that the ranger had given him.  “They need to know which site we picked.”  He watched Mike and Fendi stroll back up the road before turning his attentions back to the van.

By the time they came back, Kevin had their campsite organized, warm blankets airing out in the last of the daylight and the charcoal grill sizzling as it warmed.  He strummed a chord on his guitar  “I think we’ve got enough for a bbq, but we’ll need to buy more dinner food tomorrow, unless you wanna live on dry cereal,” he announced, adding a little arpeggio flourish.

Mike glared at Kevin’s guitar.  Kevin carefully ignored him and twiddled a tuning knob.  He hadn’t pulled out his guitar since Santa Monica, when Mike had jammed his in the back when he thought no-one was looking.

Kevin wouldn’t have been able to leave his behind either, no matter how mad or frustrated he was at the music, or his band.

Mike ended up chopping up some onions and tomatoes as Kevin doodled, tossing them onto the grill with the last steaks from the icebox.  They hissed and filled the air with a delicious scent.  “He cooks, he walks the dog, ladies and gentlemen, Mike Carden,” Kevin announced to the first stars, exhaling hard in an approximation of wild applause as he played a jaunty jingle on his guitar.

Mike turned, but Kevin caught the edge of his smile.  “Shut up and find some plates, would you?” he said, his back to Kevin

They ate with their plates balanced on their knees, squeezed in together on Sunshine’s tailgate as they watched the stars come out.  Fendi sat at their feet, looking up pitifully in the hopes of scraps.  “No dog,” Kevin said sternly.  “I have to breath the same air.”

Mike smirked and tossed Fendi a piece of gristle.  “Here, Fendi.”

“Weak, Carden, weak,” Kevin teased.

“There’s a reason I’m his favourite.  Also, I cooked, so you clean.”

Kevin took their dishes without complaint to the large trough sinks that were built into one wall of the facilities block.  He slowed his steps as he returned - someone was playing his guitar.  He crept in closer, smiling as he saw Mike, head bowed over Kevin’s favourite acoustic, playing a simple, catchy melody.  

Kevin discreetly pulled out his phone and took a quick picture; Mike, half in shadows, half in the light coming out of the van, totally absorbed in the music.  He didn’t care what Mike said - that was the expression of a musician.  

He put the bucket of clean stuff down inside the van, pulled out Mike’s guitar, and freed it from its case.  “Can anyone join this jam?” he asked, dropping down to sit cross-legged on Fendi’s blanket at Mike’s feet.  Not even giving him time to argue, Kevin picked up a counter-melody, three alternating chords, to what Mike was playing.

Mike’s fingers stuttered, and for a second Kevin thought he was going to stop after all, but then he found his rhythm again.

Kevin’s calluses had thinned, and his fingers were aching, but he wasn’t stopping until Mike did.  “Play that again,” Mike said, the first words they’d spoken since they’d started playing.  The moon was fully risen now, and it threw enough light to see the look of concentration on Mike’s face.  “No, the other...yeah, that bit.  Alternate that, four times, then follow my lead.”

Kevin raised an eyebrow but did as he was told.  His expression softened as he heard what Mike was trying to build.  He flicked the bass strings, setting up a counter-beat to the notes on the E-string, and Mike smiled.  “I...I’ve got some lyrics I’ve been thinking about...”

“Come on then.”  Kevin grinned as Mike ducked his head.  “It’s you, me and the dog.  And I won’t tell.  Can’t vouch for the dog.  Come on,” he insisted as Mike laughed.  They started again.

And quietly, hesitantly, Mike started to sing.  


  
Kevin woke slowly, fingers aching and nose cold where it was poking out over the edge of the blankets.  He turned and frowned at Mike’s face, inches from his own.

Oh right, he remembered.  They’d crawled into the back of Evil Piece of Sunshine to share blankets and body heat as the cold night air finally forced them to put down their guitars.  Fendi whined as Kevin moved his feet.

He  ached , the driving and the sleeping in the van and the cold air all ganging up on him.

Next to him, Mike groaned.  “Turn off the light,” he moaned.

“It’s the sun,” Kevin told him, voice raspy.  “Doesn’t come with an off switch.”

Mike mumbled a curse and pulled the covers over his head as far as they would reach.  Kevin sat up, earning another curse, and reached down to rub Fendi’s ears in greeting.

Fendi twisted his head out of Kevin’s fingers, yapping quietly as he bounced down and out the van.  “Morning, doggie,” Kevin heard a man say.

Wincing against the cold air, Kevin wiggled out from under the covers and into a hoodie before slipping out of the van.  “Oh hey, morning,” he called softly, mindful of Mike still trying to sleep.

The ranger stood up from where he’d been kneeling to pet Fendi.  “Morning.  Dog really should be on a leash.”

Kevin nodded.  “Just got up,” he said by way of apology, reaching back into the van find Fendi’s lead.  

“Whoissit?” Mike mumbled, shifting under the covers.

“Just the park ranger,” Kevin told him.  “Don’t mind him,” he told the ranger, jingling the lead so that Fendi came bounding over.  “He’s not awake enough to be fit for human company yet.”  He grinned at Mike’s noise of protest.

The ranger had an odd look on his face.  “Well, alright, umm, just came by to say, today’s gonna start fine, but a storm is rolling in tonight, so don’t stay out on the walking tracks too late,” he said, eyes darting nervously between Kevin and the van.  His eyes widened as Mike stumbled out, the blanket wrapped around his shoulders.  “If you folks plan on, umm, staying another night, just come up to the visitors centre and let me know.”

Mike sat down on the tail gate and opened his bottle of water.  “We will. Or Kevin will, he’s the organized one of this partnership,” he quipped.  

Kevin frowned as the ranger stared for a moment, then turned away, not quite looking at either one of them.  “Well, you and your, uh,  partner , have a good day...”  He gave them one last odd look and then turned and hurried away.

Kevin sucked on his own lip in concentration for a moment.  “Did he think we were..?” he asked Mike, looking at him while discreetly pointing at the ranger.

Mike grinned and waggled his eyebrows.  “Don’t bother knocking if the Evil Piece of Sunshine’s a-rockin’,” he teased.  

Kevin laughed awkwardly.  “At least he didn’t run us out of the park with a shotgun.”  He squirmed a little.

Mike shrugged calmly and chugged the rest of his water.  “Do people even do that anymore?” he asked.  As he let the blanket drop and reached for his own hoodie, Kevin turned away and busied himself picking up Fendi’s abandoned blanket.  His gaze landed on the guitars, safe from the dew in their cases.  He wondered if he should say anything.  Mike beat him to it.  “Maybe we could work a bit more on that song tonight?” he asked, shrugging into his hoodie.

Kevin nodded.  “We’ll go explore the park a bit, drive to the next town, and go from there?  Find somewhere else quiet for Jam Session Two, the Reckoning.”

Mike looked up, laughing.  “You’re a dork,” he said fondly, pulling out his phone.  “Who, ah, also has to call Nic.”  


  
* * *

They packed lunch and water and the flip camera, and set out along the main trail towards the cinder fields.  “How’s your moonwalking?” Kevin asked with a grin.

“Don’t even,” Mike said, letting go of Fendi’s lead so he could race ahead.  Kevin made a disapproving noise.  “What, he’s on his lead,” Mike protested with a grin.

Kevin sighed but didn’t argue.  This close to the end of the season, the place was deserted, and the wind had erased most of the footprints.  “End of the world?” he tried out loud.  He could almost hear music, like he was composing a music video in his head the wrong way around.

“Damn dirty ape?” Mike asked hopefully.

Kevin laughed and turned on the camera.  “Survivor stories.  And go...”

They didn’t stick to any one film, just scattering pop references in as they made up on the fly a story of post-apocalyptic survival.  They crested a ridge and looked out over a field of black sand, deserted and desolate.  “Wow,” Mike said softly.

Kevin did a long slow pan.  Maybe they could do some kind of cheesy overdub later.  The camera beeped, the red light flashing a low battery warning.  “Ooh, looks like we’re leaving them with a cliffhanger,” he said, tilting the display so Mike could see.

“Always leave them wanting more,” Mike said, clicking his tongue.  Fendi came bounding over and let Mike take his leash.  “Come on, put it away.  Let’s just explore for us for once.”

Neither felt inclined to talk much as they set out across the ash-black landscape.  The path, beaten smooth across the sands, sloped gently up to a low peak.  Mike bent down to scoop up a stick, bleached bone-white by the dry air and the sun.  “Kev?” he asked, turning it in his hand.  Fendi glanced at it for a moment, but when Mike didn’t throw it, he went back to sniffing the ground.  “Can I ask you something?”

Kevin glanced back at him, gripping the straps of his backpack as they leaned into the sloping climb.  “Sure,” he said with a little shrug.

Mike cleared his throat.  “You seemed a little freaked out this morning. When the Ranger thought we were together,” he elaborated.

Kevin kept his eyes on the path.  “I wasn’t,” he lied.

For a few yards, the only sounds were the crunch of sand beneath their boots and Fendi’s panting.  “Do gay people make you uncomfortable, Kev?” Mike asked quietly, a hint of sharpness and something that sounded a lot like disappointment beneath the question.

Kevin laughed at that, a little bitterly.  “No.  At least, not the way you seem to be thinking of.”

Mike reached out and stopped him with a touch.  “Enlighten me,” he said bluntly, staring right at him.

Kevin kicked up the dust, sending puffs of ashy cloud into the air.  But there was no-one around, and if, when this was all over and he still wasn’t welcomed home, it would be nice to have a friend.  Or, if he was reading this wrong, better that he and Mike get this over with now, before they travel on together any further.  “Remember, when you asked why we were doing this?  And Nic told you I was taking a life hiatus?  Well, that’s because my parents figured out that I like girls  and boys.  And they....weren’t pleased,” he finished lamely.  “In the screaming, yelling, get out of our house, you’re going to burn in Hell sense of the word, not pleased.”  He sighed and looked up the path, towards the black hilltop silhouetted cleanly against the clear blue sky.  “So maybe I was freaking out, but more because of that, than because he thought we were together.”  He laughed a little sarcastically.  "Come on, we'd be a hot couple.  My good looks and your badassedness."  The joke fell flat as Mike just continued to stare at him.  Kevin started to wonder if he'd read this all wrong.  "Are  you freaking out?" he asked tiredly, the exhaustion that had driven him out of house and into the van coming back to him.  "Because if you are, I can drop you anywhere you'd like, so you don't have to share a ride with a known faggot."

Mike blinked.  "Don't,” he said sharply.  “Don't use that word, don't call yourself that,” he added with a low, hot intensity.  He reached out and squeezed Kevin’s arm.  “Be whoever you are, but don’t call yourself names.  Fuck knows there’s enough assholes in the world who’ll do that for you.”

Kevin blinked and stared at Mike.  “Sounds like you’ve met a few of them.”

Mike shifted uncomfortably, letting Kevin go.  “My fair share.  Come on, we better keep going if we want to be outta here before rain turns it all to black mud and Nic never forgives us for dying her dog charcoal.”

Together, they walked over the crest and started looping around, following the path back to the Evil Piece of Sunshine.

 

@kevinjonas The last two men (and their dog) on Earth.  It’s the Postman Walking the Planet of the Dead Apes (I think that’s all the refs) <view video>

@shitcardensays @kevinjonas I slotted in a blink and you’ll miss it Tank Girl reference too

@HeyItsNicoleA @shitcardensays I caught it!  You read Tank Girl?  Be still my beating heart!

@kevinjonas @HeyItsNicoleA @shitcardensays I feel both jealous and out of the loop.

@HeyItsNicoleA @kevinjonas @shitcardensays I shall bring some back with me.  Four more sleeps. I expect lots of cuddles on arrival!

Retweeted by @kjfanzbrasil and 84 others


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N for this section.  [This ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUFPGD50REM)is the song that they sing.  NSFW, so headphones are your friend!)  
> 

Nic came running out of the tiny regional airport, dragging her bag, her hair flying.  She squealed in delight as she dropped it and leapt into Kevin’s embrace, arms and legs wrapping around him.  Fendi barked happily, and Mike grinned as he saw a few of the other passengers on Nic’s flight looking at them strangely.  Nic slipped to the ground and turned to hug Mike, dragging him in and squeezing him tight.  She smelled of recycled air and travel, and her hair was shorter than when he’d last seen it, with a bright strip of colour through it.  

“For the film?” he asked, tugging the lurid bang.

She grinned, bouncing on the spot and dropping to one knee to cuddle and coo over Fendi.  “Yeah, but I like it, so I’m keeping it.”

“Fair enough,” Kevin said, picking up her dropped bag.  “Did you eat already?  We’ve got a room at the motel in town.”

Nic babbled excitedly at them the whole drive into the centre of town.  Kevin smiled as he shoved her gently into the shower.  “Ten bucks says she crashes within ten minutes of getting out of there,” Kevin said quietly to Mike.

Mike jumped on his own bed and pawed around for the remote.  “No bet.  She’s gonna chew our ears off til 3am.”  He seemed strangely happy at the prospect.

Nic came out in crumpled sweats, hair still damp.  She crawled onto the bed with Mike and cuddled in.  “Were you making bets?” she asked.

Mike nodded, grinning at Kevin.  “Yep, and I’ve got ten dollars on you lasting the distance, kiddo.  Don’t let me down.”

Nic laughed around a yawn.  “We’re gonna have to split it,” she told him, eyelids already drooping.  

Kevin sat down on the edge of the bed and brushed her hair off her cheek.  “Sleepy, sleepy,” he cooed.

Nic swatted him and tried to rally.  “You know what would make me sleepy? Snuggles.”  She tugged at him until, with a sigh, he crawled onto the bed with them.  “Find us a crappy movie to mock, Carden,” she ordered, poking Mike even as her eyes half-closed again.

“Bossy bossy,” Mike said, already reaching for the remote.  He found some black and white horror movie on what Kevin suspected was local public access.  

They watched a few scenes.  “Anyone else having ideas?” Nic asked.  Kevin was surprised; he thought she’d already fallen asleep.

“Camera is charging as we speak,” Kevin reassured her.

“Dorks,” Mike told them both.

“Says the star of many a Youtube vid who said, what was it Kevin? Oh yeah, he hates cameras,” Nic giggled sleepily.

“Hate your face,” Mike teased back, rubbing his chin lightly over her hair, the coloured strands snagging on his stubble.  His eyes met Kevin’s, and he smiled.

On screen, the monster roared, and Nic made sloppy claw-hands at the screen, rawring back.  Kevin smiled back at Mike, feeling stupidly, ridiculously fond and grateful for them both.  

@HeyItsNicoleA We can’t decide to head north or south, so we’re settling this old school, with an arm wrestle! <view picture>

@HeyItsNicoleA mano a mano.  @shitcardensays has those swimmers pecs, but @kevinjonas is wiry, yo! <view video>

@HeyItsNicoleA And Kevin wins with a surprise tickle move!

@shitcardensays @HeyitsNicoleA  The victory lap singing We Are The Champions was perhaps a bit over the top

@HeyItsNicoleA @shitcardensays Not when you’ve got the video camera in hand <view video>

Retweeted by @shitcardensays and 102 others

@kevinjonas @shitcardensays sore loser much?

@shitcardensays @kevinjonas I’ll show you sore loser.

@HeyItsNicoleA And the rematch is a tickle fight in the back of the van! I should be selling this to pay per view. <view video>

Retweeted by @ChelseaKane and 115 others

  
“Yellowstone, 15 miles,” Mike called out.

Nic cussed and banged her hand against the steering wheel.  “Damn,” she laughed.  “I’ll get the next one.”

Kevin just grinned to himself and kept doodling on his guitar from the back seat.  Nic and Mike had been racing each other to spot the signs since they saw the first one over an hour ago.  “So, have you decided what the winner’s getting?” Kevin asked, strumming a chord.

“Bragging rights,” Nic said firmly.

Mike turned around so he was kneeling on the front seat, leaning over into the back.  “It’s not whether you win or lose, Kevin,” he said with wide-eyed eagerness.  “It’s whether you play the game!”

Nic laughed and reached out blindly to tug Mike back down.  “We doing anything at Yellowstone?” She asked.  “Anyone had any ideas?”

Kevin grinned and tried plucking by ear the theme song he’d had stuck in his head for a while.  “Yogi Bear is smarter than the average bear,” he sang.

“Yogi bear is always in the ranger’s hair!” Nic and Mike chimed in, laughing.  “Perfect.”

“You know the other version?” Mike asked them.  He grinned wickedly as they shook his head.  “Play this,” he said, humming a familiar melody .  He began to sing as Kevin plucked it out.

By the time he got to the line about the wanking bear, Nic was laughing so hard she had to pull over onto the shoulder.  “Oh gods, can we do that version?”

“What?” Kevin asked, stilling the strings.  “The gangbang version?”

Nic started laughing so hard Kevin thought she might actually hurt herself.  “Hearing you say gangbang is kinda weird,” Mike admitted.

Kevin rolled his eyes.  “Tits ass fuck shit damn,” he said with a straight face.  Nic  howled with laughter and even Mike was grinning.  

“Can you say that on camera?” Mike asked.

Kevin thought about what his parents would say if he posted a video of him swearing, thought of their faces as they watched, if they watched.  He grinned slowly.  “Sure,” he said evilly.

Nic indicated and pulled them back onto the blacktop.  “To the gangbang!” she declared.

Mike snorted.  “And all your fans say ‘finally.’”

They were all still giggling as they pulled up at the gates to the park.

@shitcardensays we got thrown out of an unnamed yet quite famous national park for this (hint: old faithful). hope you appreciate it! <view video>

@ChelseaKane you know, I remember a time when Kevin was sweet and innocent.

@HeyItsNicoleA @ChelseaKane and he had you fooled, hey @kevinjonas

@kevinjonas @HeyItsNicoleA @ChelseaKane slander.  slander and lies. i am pure as snowdrifts.

@shitcardensays @kevinjonas before or after the huskies have gotten to it?

@shitcardensays @ChelseaKane @HeyItsNicoleA we still think him saying shit is funny

@shitcardensays @ChelseaKane also, no matter what @HeyItsNicoleA and @kevinjonas have told you, i’m not an ax murderer

@ChelseaKane @shitcardensays I can’t believe they told you I said that.

@shitcardensays @ChelseaKane we tell each other everything on sleepover nights between the pillow fights and the pedicures

Chelsea Kane now follows Mikey Carden

Mikey Carden now follows Chelsea Kane

  
Kevin re-read the exchange on twitter again.  “You’re going to wear out your touchscreen, sweetie,” Nic said as they sat side by side on the Evil Piece of Sunshine’s bumper, waiting for Mike to come back with the new bulb for the van’s headlights.  “He and Chels are becoming friends, that’s good, isn’t it?”

“Peachy,” Kevin said, unsure even in himself why he had to grind the word out through gritted teeth.

Nic laughed at him.  “We should totally try and convince Chels we have actual sleepovers.  Like, puppy piles,” she decided, scratching Fendi between the ears.  “Pull out every teenage chick flick trope.  I know them all, I’ve been in enough of them!  All the little details, like...” she waved her hand, casting about for an example.

“He kicks in his sleep,  tell her that,” Kevin said, forcing himself to pocket his phone.

Nic turned to stare at him with a calculating look.  “And how do you know that, hmm?”

Kevin sighed.  “We camped out a few times, while you were back in LA, but it was too cold to sleep on the mats outside, so we had to share the back of the van,” he said with a shrug, not meeting her eyes.

“Huddling for warmth, huh,” she asked, her eyebrows waggling ridiculously over the top of her oversized sunglasses.  “Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”

Kevin gave her a baleful look.  “Mind out of the gutter, Anderson.”

Nic’s smile softened.  “And you were okay?  I mean, after that whole thing with your family...”

Kevin cut her off with a gesture.  “I am totally not in the right headspace to...well, anything and even if I was, I don’t think Mike would be interested, do you?”

Nic bit her lip.  “But are you interested, that is the question.”

Kevin frowned.  “In what?”

She shuffled closer and leaned against him supportively.  “Mike,” she said simply.

Kevin winced.  “It...it doesn’t matter.  No,” he cut her off as she started to argue.  “He’s the first friend I’ve made in forever, definitely since I began to realize who I really was, and he’s cool with me...being me,” he said, stumbling over the words. Even now, months later and states away, he could still hear the echoes of his father shouting those words like curses.  “I think it’s kinda to be expected that I...feel affection, and maybe wonder, y’know, what if.  But it’s not real.  It’s just the rebound, or whatever you want to call it.”

Nic looked unconvinced.  “So what are you going to do?”

Kevin smiled at her.  “Travel in this van with my friends, have adventures, film stupid youtube clips...”

“Write songs?” Nic asked hopefully.  “The guitar does seem to be out a lot more now, I have noticed.”

Kevin smiled.  “Maybe we should write a theme tune for our videos?”

Nic was still clapping in glee when Mike came back with the part in hand.

@HeyItsNicoleA Mr Fixit @shitcardensays fixing our van ready for our next adventure. <view picture>

@shitcardensays @HeyItsNicoleA did you have to take a picture of my ass?

@HeyItsNicoleA @shitcardensays yes.

@kevinjonas @shitcardensays yes

@siskybusiness @HeyItsNicoleA and the internet thanks you for it

  
The van struggled but made it up incline after incline until they rolled into Denver.  “Everyone, remember to breath,” Nic quipped as they drove past the city limits sign. 

“Five two eight zero,” Kevin read out, enunciating each number.  “That’s pretty high.”

Mike grinned and leaned over from the back seat to ruffle Kevin’s hair.  “Have sex in Denver and join the mile high club,” he teased.

Nic howled and Kevin groaned as he leaned forward, trying to dodge Mike’s fingers.  “Lame, Carden, lame.”

Mike sat back.  “Not as lame as this album, seriously,” he said, pointing at the stereo.  “Who are these people, and who in this van has no taste and put it on?”

“I did,” Kevin sniffed.  “Hanson are awesome.”

“Are not,” Mike objected.

“Are too!”

They kept the argument going all the way to the centre of town.  Nic swung them into a parking bay and slammed on the brakes with maybe a little more force than necessary.  “Right,” she snapped.  “That’s it.  Mike, camera,” she demanded with a snap of her fingers.

Mike opened it up and framed her.  The little red recording light glowed.  “Hi Youtube,” she said straight into the lens.  “Kevin and Mike have been mocking each others’ taste in music for pretty much the last hundred miles.  And it’s getting  old .  So I am proposing an old-fashioned duel, so they can settle this like gentlemen.”  She took the camera and turned it around to shoot them both, Kevin sitting back and Mike leaning forward, arms braced on the backrest.  “Your mission, boys, and you  will  choose to accept it, is to go out into Denver town, find a spot where you won’t get arrested, and busk for one hour.  The person who comes back with the most spare change wins control of the stereo for the next week!”

Kevin laughed.  “Seriously.”

Nic reached over and made the camera nod up and down.  “Did you miss the part where I didn’t give you a choice in the matter. Come on, guitars out and let’s roll.”

Mike and Kevin were still grinning in disbelief as they lined up holding their cases.  “You understand the rules?” Nic snapped from behind the camera.  “Okay, I’ll give you fifteen minutes to find a place, and ten to get back here.  One hour to busk.  That means you must begin at 11am and stop playing at 12, got it?”

They both nodded.  Mike chuckled and turned to shake Kevin’s hand.  Kevin winked, getting into the spirit of it.  They both turned on the spot and stood, back to back for a moment before pacing it out like gunslingers.

Kevin was tempted to just go and grab a smoothie and wait out the hour, but the thought of coming back empty handed when Mike might get a handful of coins and win the prize stopped him.  He’d busked before; he knew some tricks.  Glancing around to get his bearings, he went to find a patch to work.  He wondered how Mike was going.

Mike sat down on a bench near a handful of cafes.  People were lounging in the sunshine, and Mike had spotted more than one handbag that probably cost more than the Evil Piece of Sunshine.  This was a good patch.  He tuned up, eyes on the large street clock as it ticked over the last two minutes before 11am.  He knew he could cheat, but that wasn’t the game.  He grinned as the hour struck, and started to play.

Kevin smiled and nodded as a child darted forward to throw a nickel into Kevin’s open case.  He’d been playing covers mainly, a few Hanson numbers just as a little ‘fuck you’ to Mike.  He didn’t play any JoBros songs though.  That still hurt a little too much.  He glanced again through the shop window opposite, where he could just make out a large clock on the wall.  Quarter to, and by the looks of it he had about eight dollars in his case.  He could get that at least to ten before the hour was up.  Flashing a charming smile at a family walking past, Kevin launched into an old Beatles number.

Mike nodded his thanks as a pretty girl in a floral dress dropped a dollar bill into his case.  “Thank you,” Mike said.  She beamed and darted back to her friends.  Mike grinned when he looked past her and saw Nic, discreetly filming.  Nic looked over her camera, and pointed at the clock.  Five minutes to.  Mike nodded.  “And for my last number, ladies and gentlemen,” he announced, swallowing down his nerves.  “I’d like to play you a new song of mine, hope you like it....”

Kevin swung his case and caught up with Mike just before he got to the van.  “Hey,” he said, still beaming.  He’d forgotten how awesome a live audience was, even if it was just a bunch of passers-by.  “How’d you go?”

Mike laughed.  “Good.  Let’s get Nic to do the final count.”

The money was piled up on the curb next to the Evil Piece of Sunshine as Kevin opened the camera again.  “Kevin busked and earned...ten dollars and twenty five cents, plus...” she picked it up. “One Canadian penny.  Mike earned...ten dollars and thirty cents, no foreign coins!”  Mike cheered and started to do a victory dance that was a clear mockery of Kevin’s.  

Kevin just shrugged and filmed it.  

“And,” Nic interjected just before Mike could start bragging.  “I earned fifteen dollars and ten cents.” She poured the money out of her pocket onto the curb.”

Kevin refocused the camera on her.  “How?”

She smirked and curtsied.  “Twenty minutes of a pretty girl throwing tumbling tricks beats two guys with guitars any day of the week.”  She laughed, almost cackling.  “The stereo is MINE!  ALL MINE!”  She began to do a seated dance that involved a lot of wiggling and fist pumps.

Mike looked at Kevin.  Kevin turned the camera to him, then back to Nic just as Mike pounced and chased her around the parking lot.  Kevin filmed for a bit, capturing the moment Mike tackled Nic onto the grass growing along the verge before turning the camera around.  “And that concludes our broadcast day.  I think,” he added in a mockery of piousness.  “That there was something in there for all of us.”

They went to get lunch.  Nic edited as she ate her noodles one-handed, and they ignored the scowl of the waiter at their grass-stained clothes.  

Kevin grinned to himself as Nic showed them the final clip - he hadn’t noticed Nic spying on him busking, filming him, but what was more interesting were the clips of Mike playing.

He looked  happy .

@HeyItsNicoleA  The challenge was set, two lone guitar-slingers battle for the right to control the stereo.  Who will win? <view video>

@HeyItsNicoleA And we just set a new views record.  I dance again!

@HeyItsNicoleA Working on it! RT @siskybusiness Got clear audio of that new song Mike was playing?


	5. Chapter 5

“Where to next?” Mike asked the next morning, stretching back in his seat before hunching over his giant cup of coffee.

Nic laughed and stirred in too much sugar into her own coffee.  “Things to do in Denver when you’re dead?”

“Whatever it is, no more driving,” Mike protested.  “My back is killing me.”

Nic smiled at Kevin.  “Kevin gives amazing backrubs!” she chirruped.  Kevin glared at her, barely noticing that Mike had also frozen mid-stretch.  

“You should try the hot springs, honey.”  They all looked up at the waitress who had come over to refill their cups.  “Best thing for sore muscles, and it shouldn’t be too busy this time of year.”  She smiled at them.

Mike beamed at her and turned to Nic and Kevin.  “Hot springs.  I’d drive for that.”

Kevin protested lamely, but he was ignored as Mike got some local tips out of the waitress and Nic looked it up on her laptop.  “Couple of days?” she suggested.  “We could all probably do with a recharge.”

Kevin dragged himself into the van as Mike and Nic chatted excitedly about where they were going, curling up in the back with Fendi and watching the mountain scenery roll by.  “I got us a suite,” Nic announced as she gave Mike directions for the turning to the resort.  “And their site says they welcome dogs, on a lead. Oh, this is so exciting.”

The smell of sulphur and heat hit Kevin as he got out of the van.  “Where have you taken us, woman?” he said to Nic.

She just smiled and headed into reception.  Kevin resigned himself to being the porter as he carried their bags up to their room. He shook himself a little out of his funk when he saw the view, a sweeping vista of pine trees clinging to steep slopes.  Nic cuddled up behind him.  “Isn’t it pretty,” she sighed, squeezing him tight.  “Tell me I have good ideas.”

“You have good ideas,” Kevin said dutifully, resting his hands over hers.  

In the reflection on the glass, he saw her grin.  “Especially given that hot springs means we get to see Mike in his swim trunks.”

“Nic!” Kevin yelped.

She laughed. “Don’t say you don’t want to sneak a peek.  I see you trying not to look whenever his shirt rides up,” she teased, poking him.  “Though I have to commend your taste.”

“Whose taste,” Mike asked, walking into the main room.

Nic turned around.  “Taste in swim wear, you should see his.”  Kevin turned slowly, hoping his face wasn’t as red as it felt.  “Though perhaps not as nice as yours, Mikey,” Nic added with a none-too-subtle elbow jab into Kevin’s ribs.

Mike shrugged uncomfortably.  “We’re at a hot springs,” he said, ducking the comment.  “I’m hitting the water.  Who’s coming?”

“Kevin is,” Nic said, shoving him forward.  “I need to...do something first, then I’ll come join you.”

Kevin mumbled something incoherent about getting changed and fled.  


  
* * *

Mike sighed, arms spread as he relaxed into the water.  “This, this is amazing,” he murmured, arching his back like a cat being petted.  

He smiled at Kevin, arms crossed over his bare chest, as he tentative poked a toe into the water.  “So hot,” he said, swishing his foot through the water, getting used to it.

“So awesome,” Mike corrected.  “Get in here, I’m getting a crick in my neck looking up at you.”

Kevin sniffed and lowered himself carefully into the water, muscles in his arms standing out in relief as they took his full weight.  “Woah, wow, oh  wow ,” Kevin moaned as the warmth entered his bones.

Mike grinned at Kevin’s orgasmic noises.  Kevin caught him staring and splashed some water at him.  Mike splashed back.

They were both grinning as they mutually decided on a truce and settled in against the warm, rocky ledge, worn smooth by the action of the water.  Kevin pushed his wet hair back.  “Okay, this was a good idea,” he conceded.

“Glad you agree,” Mike said.  He’d noticed Kevin’s mood all the way out of Denver.  It had been pretty hard to miss.  “You not smiling is, like, one of the signs of the apocalypse.”

Kevin pursed his lips and rolled his eyes.  “Glad my mood pleases you, oh Great and Magnificent Carden.”

Mike splashed him again on principle.  “So,” he said as they settled back into the comfortable warmth.  “What was Nic being unsubtle about back up in the room?”

Kevin looked away and shrugged.  “Nothing.  Just Nic being Nic.”

Mike balanced himself against the ledge and stretched out his foot to poke Kevin’s thigh with his toe.  “And Nic is unsubtle, we’ve already established this.”  Kevin shrugged and caught Mike’s foot with his hand.  He tried to shove it away, but Mike had leverage against the ledge and fought to keep on poking.  “If you don’t tell me, I’ll have to guess.  Is it something to do with these magical massage skills I’ve heard so much about?” he said.

Kevin blushed beautifully and glided across the pool, trying to get out of Mike’s range.  Mike strangely missed the feel of Kevin’s hands around his ankle, of skin on skin.  “Shut up,” Kevin mumbled, grinning awkwardly.

Mike shifted in the water, following him. “Come on.  I mean, your choice in swim shorts is kinda okay, but I was expecting something with more flair if Nic was that excited,” he teased, stretching again, this time far enough to feel fabric under his toes.  Kevin yelped and caught Mike’s foot again.

“You have monkey toes,” Kevin told him, bringing both hands into the water to hold onto Mike’s leg.  Mike was aware of every point of contact, the slight callouses on Kevin’s fingers.

Mike swung his leg up and wiggled them in front of Kevin’s face.  Kevin yelped and pushed back hard enough to dunk Mike.

They were too busy battling out round two of the splash fight to notice Nic standing on the stone path, filming them on her phone.

@HeyItsNicoleA  One for our hardcore twitter followers - Boys Go (Wet and) Wild <view video>

@kevinjonas @HeyItsNicoleA I am tempted to take away your video privileges.

@HeyItsNicoleA @kevinjonas all the ladies I have on my mentions page fanning themselves disagree!

  
* * *

Mike picked up the camera and checked the charge.  “Do we have any chocolate sauce?” he asked, completely out of the blue.

Kevin lowered the book he was reading, sprawled out over the musty motel bed.  “Why?” he asked slowly.

Mike nodded towards the sounds of the shower.  “Pretty girl, alone in the shower.  Cue strident violins and chocolate sauce circling the drain.”

Kevin shook his head and lifted his book.  “I think Nic has some chocolate milk in the Sunshine’s cooler.  And you’re on your own.  No way am I barging into a girl’s shower time.”

Mike looked hurt.  “Who said anything about barging?”  Kevin glanced around his book.  “I’m not that kind of guy,” Mike added quietly.

Kevin winced.   “Sorry.” 

Mike shrugged and turned around, his back to Kevin as he began to clean the already spotless camera lense.

Nic came out of the bathroom ten minutes later in her sweats, piling up her wet hair under a towel.  She paused as soon as she sensed the atmosphere in the room.  “What?” she demanded, coming to a standstill.

“Nothing,” Mike mumbled.

Kevin sat up, putting his book aside.  “Mike was just saying we really need to do Psycho.  Chels is probably still waiting for proof of his ax murderer ways,” he teased, glancing over at Mike hopefully.

Mike shrugged.  “Yeah,” he said unenthusiastically.  “I mean if...”

Nic was already bouncing on her toes.  “You know what would be even more awesome?  Do the whole Psycho creeping up to the shower curtain thing, draw back the knife and BAM, it’s Kevin showering!”

“Wait, what?” Kevin blinked, sitting up straighter.

Mike laughed and turned around fully.  “I like it.  Especially if he can borrow your froofy shower cap thing.”

Nic nodded and turned to Kevin.  “Come on Kev.  How high can you scream?”

Kevin rolled his eyes, but knew he was beat.  “Let’s pack Sunshine first.  That way we can make a quick getaway before the manager throws us out.”  He sighed but smiled when he saw Mike grinning.  “Oh, can you at least pretend you won’t enjoy this?”

Mike just beamed even wider.  “I get to chase a wet and shirtless Kevin Jonas around a tiny locked room.  Do you know how many of your fans would want to trade places with me.”

Nic raised her hand.  “I can do the stabbing if you want,” she said with a sweet smile.  “If it’s too much  pressure , Michael.”

Mike shook his head.  “No way.  I’m sticking it in....the knife!” he amended as Kevin turned crimson and Nic howled with laughter so loudly she fell over onto the bed.

Kevin sighed and rubbed his face.  “I’ll just be in the shower if anyone wants to stab me,” he said with as much dignity as he could muster.

He was  so wearing his swimsuit though.  Nic would just have to keep it out of frame.

@ShitCardenSays Hey @ChelseaKane this one’s for you - cue the violins! <view video>

Retweeted by @ChelseaKane and 99 others

  
* * *

Nic leaned forward, her arms folding on the back of the front seat between the two men so she could rest her chin.  “What’s that?” she asked.

Mike braced himself against the passenger dash as he peered forward.  “Toll booth?” he guessed.

It turned out to be a border crossing.  “Hope you all enjoyed your visit to Nebraska,” the man said in the booth as he took the toll.

Nic frowned.  “That puts us in...?”

The guy’s brow furrowed.  “Iowa’s just across the bridge,” he said coldly.

They managed to wait until they were on the metal-decked bridge before bursting out laughing.  “I bet you ten bucks he’s right now muttering something about damn kids and the state of education,” Nic laughed.

Mike sniggered.  “I didn’t even know we were in Nebraska.”

“Ooh, wait, just a sec.”  Nic fumbled around in her backseat nest and pulled out her cellphone.  “Say that again.”

Mike smiled at the little camera.  “I didn’t even know we were in Nebraska, and now I’m disappointed I know we’re in Iowa.  What’s Iowa famous for?”

“Birthplace of Captain Kirk,” Kevin offered, never taking his eyes off the road.  The bridge was narrow, traffic crawling as they inched past the metal barricades.

In the end, Kevin had to arm-wrestle Mike again for the right to play Kirk.  “We won’t even make you wear pointy ears to be Spock,” Kevin teased as he finished his customary victory dance.

Nic cut off any reply by jumping out of Sunshine with a triumphant noise.  “I knew I packed my miniskirt!” she said, doing in a little twirl.  “Lieutenant Uhura, reporting for duty,” she added, snapping a cheeky little salute.

Mike just sighed.  “We need more redshirts,” he muttered.

In the end, Nic tied a large red and black scarf around Fendi.  He suffered it with patience borne of long experience.  “Cadet Fendi, reporting for away duty,” Nic squeaked, lifting Fendi’s paw for him.

“We should tell this from the cadet’s point of view,” Mike said, fiddling with the camera.  

“You’re just sore you lost yet another arm wrestle to,” Kevin struck a truly ridiculous pose.  “Kevin.  Tiberius.  Kirk!”

Mike grinned at Nic as they both lowered their cameras.  “Multiple roles?” she suggested as a peace offering.

In the end, it turned out Fendi was the best out of all of them at faking death scenes.

@kevinjonas  Our ongoing mission, to seek out new life and new civilizations, and to die if wearing a red shirt <view video>

  
* * *

They drove past the sign for the turnoff for the Lewis and Clark State Park.  Nic looked at Mike.  Mike looked at Kevin.  Kevin looked at Nic.  “They haven’t made a movie of it, have they?” Mike asked.

They kept driving.

* * *

@HeyItsNicoleA  Rain, rain, go away, come again another day! <view picture>

  
“Sea is reclaiming land by air drop,” Mike reported, letting the curtain fall back into place.  “I don’t think Sunshine’s seals would survive driving in this.”

“So we’re staying put?” Kevin asked, shrugging into his hoodie.  “I’ll go see if we can have the room another night.”

Even staying under the porch eaves, he was still feeling damp when he let himself back in.  “It’s all good,” he announced, patting his hair to see how wild he curls were getting.  

Mike and Nic were sitting side by side on the end of one of the beds, looking at something on her laptop.  “We’ve got a wifi signal,” Nic said.  “A strong one.”

“Leech,” Kevin said with a laugh, hanging up his hoodie to try and dry it out.  They really needed to do some laundry.

“If it’s unsecured, they must want to share,” Nic said loftily as Kevin came over.  The bed squeaked and sank dangerously as he sat down to look.  “Also, I have an idea.”

Kevin saw the website she had loaded.  “You think that’s a good idea?” Kevin asked.

“Asks the guy who already sang a ditty about the joys of whips and chains, and had the longest fucking death scene in youtube history,” Mike commented.  “But if you’re chicken,” he added slowly, grinning wickedly.

Kevin narrowed his eyes.

@HeyItsNicoleA We’re stuck, bored, and with wifi.  Stickam chat in half an hour?   [ http://bit.ly/43gf6 ](http://bit.ly/43gf6) #KevMikeandNicsEpicRoadtripChat

They balanced the camera on a stack of phone books and Gideon’s Bibles they’d found in the drawers.  “Is it going?”  Kevin asked as he tried to frame up the shot.

Nic was tapping away at the computer.  “Uh, I think so,” she said slowly.  “Just a sec, I think...”

Kevin tried to ease his way past the precarious stack and almost sent the camera flying.  “Shit, fuck!” he cursed, making a grab for it.  He caught it and righted the stack.  “All good,” he panted, relaxing slowly.  “All good, nothing to see here.”

Nic started giggling, and Mike looked over her shoulder to see the chat window was scrolling fast. “Uh, Kev, I think we broadcast that.”

Kevin just laughed.  “We should have made a ‘please stand by, technical difficulties’ sign,” he joked as he crept with more success this time past the stack to sit on the bed next to Mike.  He looked down the lens.  “Uh, hi?”

Nic sniggered.  “Yeah, you can tell we’ve really thought about this.  Hi, internet!”  she waved down the camera.  

“So, yeah, what are we going to talk about?” Mike asked.  Kevin noticed his fingers were fidgeting, his posture stiff.

Kevin turned to the laptop.  “Does anyone have any questions, to save us in our unprepared-ness?”  He saw his name flick past onscreen, and squinted until Nic pass him his glasses. “Thanks.  Okay, this one says: Kevin, have you always used swear words?” he read aloud.

“Yes,” Nic and Mike chorused together.

Kevin elbowed Mike in the ribs.  “But this one has expanded my vocabulary,” Kevin added.

They answered a few more questions about traveling (“No maps, van rule.” “The dog.  Oh my god, I don’t know what he eats, but he wins.” “Nic, it’s surprising she hasn’t got a ticket by now.”) as the chat room filled up with more people.

Kevin was kind of surprised how many people were logging in to join them.  

So was Mike.  “Is there nothing on TV right now?” he quipped as more questions rolled in.

Nic grinned as she spotted a new question.  “Is Mike ever going to release as a single that song we heard in the busking video?” she read aloud, turning to smirk at Mike.

Mike scrunched up his face.  Kevin beat him to it.  “I think we need to get this trending, prove to him more than us want to hear it,” he teased.  Nic cheered and started trying out possible tags.

Mike turned so he wasn’t looking directly at the camera.  ‘I hate you,’ he mouthed, but he was smiling, so Kevin just beamed back.  

“I spy with my little eye, just off camera, a guitar!” Kevin sing-songed.  “Shall we ask Uncle Mikey for a song?”

“Song! Song!” Nic chanted, bouncing up and down on the bed.  Kevin dove for the laptop as it went to take a dive.  “Whoops,” she said.  “Everyone still there?”

Kevin nodded as he saw the interface was still live.  “We’re so pro here,” he joked.  His smile froze as he saw some names, standing out amid the screen full of people chatting.  Mike tuned up behind him as Kevin quickly and silently read the question:  What do your family think of the videos?  Are Nick and Joe fans?  Will there be any surprise cameos?

Nic had caught his sudden stillness, and she leaned over him to poke Mike, essentially blocking Kevin from the camera’s view for a moment.  “Sing us the song of our people, Carden!”

Mike had caught the change in Kevin’s mood, too.  He poked Kevin.  “Get your guitar out too, asshole.  Tour rule, no making a fool of ourselves alone.”

Kevin gratefully scrambled out of frame.  Nic laughed.  “I think they’re a little excited,” she reported.  “Everyone ready, check one two.”

“Ladies and gents, our roadie, Nic Anderson,” Kevin said, gripping his guitar by the neck as he came around to sit on her other side, clear of Mike’s guitar.  He looked over.  “Wanna play that one we wrote on the Moon?”

Mike nodded; they’d been playing that song across a couple of states, it was as ready as it’d ever be.  “And a one, and a two...”

@HeyItsNicoleA Thanks all for coming to our chat.  Hope you enjoyed my air tamborine, and those other guys with guitars too.

@HeyItsNicoleA Woot, and the concert recordings are on YT already!  [ http://bit.ly/5ff4w ](http://bit.ly/5ff4w) #MikeMakeMusic is a go!

Retweeted by @ChelseaKane and 132 others

@kevinjonas #MikeMakeMusic because I’ve heard what he’s got, and it’s awesome!

@siskybusiness #MikeMakeMusic because I want to hear it, too!

  
Kevin glanced in the rear view mirror a few times, but Mike never looked up from his phone.  Nic leaned over.  “I think Mike’s discovered the joys of Trending Topics.”

Kevin grinned, and this time when he looked back, Mike was looking up, shellshocked.  “How many people were  watching that fucking thing?” he burst out.

Nic just grinned at the steering wheel and began humming Mike’s melody.  Mike groaned and buried his face in his hands.  “No pressure, darling,” she teased.

Kevin twisted so he was sitting on his knees.  He looked at Mike, recognizing his expression as one he’d seen in the mirror.  “But seriously,” he said quietly.  “There really is no pressure.  Do whatever you want to.  Do what feels right.”

Mike looked up at him, hands cradling his phone.  “I have no idea what that is,” he admitted.

Kevin shrugged and gave him a reassuring smile.  “That’s okay,” he told him.  “We’ve still got plenty of roads not yet traveled.”

They drove in silence for another few miles.  Kevin smiled at the passing scenery as he heard the scratching of a pen on paper from the seat behind him.

Nic drove them on in silence for the rest of the afternoon, pulling into a camping ground near the border to Missouri.  They said nothing as Mike picked up his guitar and wandered off.

Kevin went to find him a few hours later.  He heard the guitar first, and followed the music down a grassy slope to a little knot of trees growing over a small creek.  He paused, hand resting on sun-warmed bark, and listened as Mike played a section over, testing it, teasing out the sound he wanted.  

Mike must have sensed someone watching him, because his head jerked up suddenly.  “Oh, hey.”

“Sounds good,” Kevin said, coming over to sit on the log next to Mike.  “Nic’s cooking,” he said.  “You hungry?”

Mike nodded and reached to gather up his notes.  Kevin let him be; Mike would let him hear it when he was good and ready.

They helped each other climb back up the grassy slope and walked side by side back to where they had set up camp.  Nic looked up eagerly as they approached, blinking as Kevin shook his head, waving her off.  “Get the plates, boys,” she said instead.  “I’ve been cooking up a storm.”

@ShitCardenSays thanks to everyone who tagged and tweeted.  it was really fucking awesome. 

@ShitCardenSays and as a good friend told me: music will come when it will come.  stay tuned.


	6. Chapter 6

Something about writing was contagious, Kevin decided.  They were all sprawled out in the cabin Nic had found them for their ‘no driving for a few days’ break.  Mike was on the patio, chords faintly audible through to the kitchen, where Nic was tapping away at something on her laptop that had her grinning.

Kevin got a soda out of the fridge and went back up the stairs to the open plan space on the loft level.  He picked up his own guitar and just rested it on his lap as he looked over his own notes.

He’d written more today that he had in the last four months, combined.  It was as if all the experiences, the driving and everything, had just come together in his head overnight, and was now demanding freedom.

His fingers itched, and he pressed them to the fretboard and found another melody.

When he next looked up, it was because the light was fading. He rolled stiff shoulders and slowly got to his feet.  He could hear voices in the kitchen, and padded towards the smell of bolognese cooking.  “Hey,” Mike greeted him, hand a warm and gentle pressure on Kevin’s arm as he came into the small room.  “Welcome back.  Hungry?”

Kevin’s stomach growled, and Nic laughed, stretching out her leg to push out one of the seats around the small kitchen table.  Kevin sat and stole her drink and watched Mike putter around between fridge and stove, barefoot and smiling.  

Nic giggled as she poured herself a fresh glass.  “He’s going to make someone a lovely wife, someday,” she teased, winking.

Mike just flicked a dry piece of pasta at her.  “I just can’t believe you don’t know how to make spag bol!  I thought it was the one thing everyone knew how to cook!”

Nic shrugged.  “Rice dishes, yes.  But my spaghetti always turns out crunchy, for some reason.”

Kevin laughed as Mike shook his head, leaning over to taste test his sauce.  “Good?” Kevin asked.

Mike dipped the spoon.  “I think so.  Try?”  He held it out for Kevin, and their eyes locked as he licked the rich, red sauce.  

“Mmm,” he said, sucking on his lower lip.  “Good.”

Nic stared, open-mouthed, before turning away and quietly getting up to get some ice for her drink.

Kevin barely noticed her slip away.  It took him a second to even realize he was staring like a fool.  “Where-where’d you learn to make that?” he stuttered out, feeling his cheeks warm a little with embarrassment.

Mike cleared his throat and turned back to the pots.  “Necessity.  I got fucking sick of eating ramen and toast all the time.”

“Cool,” Kevin said lamely, mentally kicking himself.

From her position in the corner of the room, Nic sighed and tried to resist the urge to thump her head against the side of the fridge in frustration.  


  
They’d split up to do a supply run -- Mike had taken the van, complete with dog, to go get fuel for the stove and to top up the oil and water.  He’d dropped Nic and Kevin on the mainstreet of the little town.  Kevin had gone to one side, and taken over half the coin-operated washing machines in the laundromat, and Nic had gone the other with a shopping list to do the grocery run.

The place was deserted, and Kevin hummed to himself as he bundled wet loads into the dryers.  The door creaked as it opened, and Kevin glanced over to smile at Nic as she twisted to get through the doorway with all her grocery bags.  “Buy out the store?” he teased.

“Food is good,” Nic panted, dropped them onto the slatted bench seat that ran along the glass frontage of the laundromat.  “How we doing?” she asked, plopping down and pushing her hair out of her face.  The coloured stripe was fading a little, but it suited her rumpled hoodie and lack of makeup.

Kevin grunted as he pushed in the last load.  “This is all of it,” he said, dropping some coins into the slot.  The dryer hummed to life and he came over to peek into the bags, looking for a snack.  Nic slapped his hand away and produced a bag of Skittles.  “Lifesaver!” he said gratefully, pouring out a handful.

Nic leaned forward.  “No sign of Mike yet?  Good.  I wanted to talk to you about your giant crush on him.”

Kevin nearly choked on a skittle.  “What?” he gasped, swallowing hard.

“You.  Your epic crush, now visible from the moon.  And if you give me that rebound speech again, I swear to all that is holy, Paul Kevin Jonas, I will bitchslap you so hard your ears will be ringing for a week.”

Kevin leaned away from her sudden vehemence.  He held up his hands in warding.  “Nic, I...”

She fixed him with a piercing look.  “Yes?”

Kevin sighed.  “I’m an idiot, okay,” he mumbled, staring at a scuffmark on the floor.  “I know I’m being stupid, but he’s...” he took a deep breath.  He thought for a second and sniggered to himself.  “Totally not the kind of guy I used to dream about alone at night, when I let myself, but...”

Nic patted him sympathetically on the shoulder and offered him the bag of Skittles.  “You told him this?”

Kevin shook his hand, the three yellow Skittles on his palm leaving faint trails on his skin as they rolled around.  “I can’t risk it, Nic,” he whispered so sadly she got up and wrapped him in a bear hug.  She wasn’t sure whether he was afraid of Mike saying no, or Mike saying yes.  Either way, she had no good answer for him.

@ShitCardenSays Driving alone - the boy, the girl and the dog are curled up fast asleep on the backseat.  Now refueled, so second star to the right time.

  
“Mike, please tell me you were taking photos of the thingy!” Nic yelled through the bathroom door.  “Mine are terrible and Kevin was taking stupid artsy instagram shit of clouds.”

“Try my phone,” Mike yelled back over the sound of running water.  “I have heat, water pressure and Kevin’s fancy shampoo in here, I might be a while.”

Nic laughed and wandered over to the bed Mike had claimed.  The phone wasn’t on the bedside table, but she found it in the messed up sheets.  His passcode was easy - they’d all kind of learned each others pins by osmosis, simply by seeing each other type them in a thousand times a day.

She flipped around through the menus, seeing what she could find.

She paused at a filename, the little preview square showing Mike and his guitar.  Glancing up, she listened to the sound of the shower and the debate of her own conscience.  Then she hit play.

She breathed out as the short clip ended.  The sound was tinny on the little speakers, the picture tiny, and Mike hadn’t introduced the song or said anything.  He didn’t need to.

Nic knew him.  He knew what those lyrics meant.  A few taps told her that Mike had recorded the song over a week ago.  She sat on the edge of the bed, his phone in her hand, and wondered whether or not to say anything.

Mike came out of the shower in sweats, drying his hair with a towel.  He stopped when he saw her there, and Nic saw the exact second Mike put the pieces together.  “Video and photos are in different folders, Nic,” he said softly, sounding as tired as Kevin had in that laundromat, five hundred miles back up the road.

“Fingerslip,” she murmured back, shuffling over to make room for him on the end of the bed.  She looped an around around his waist.  “How long?”

Mike laughed a little.  “I don’t know.  Day one, maybe.”  He wiped his mouth with a corner of the towel.  “I thought I was okay, but then he had to tell me he was fucking bi too, and then it was a  possibility .”  He slumped forward. “He can’t know, Nic.  He’s got too much shit on his plate without me making it worse.  Especially here.  This is his escape.”

Nic sighed, rubbed his shoulders, and slapped him upside the head.  “You are both blind idiots, and I am sick of the mooning.  However, I also love you both, so you have til the State border to  talk to him, or I’m talking to him for you.”

Mike’s eyes widened as he pulled back slightly.  “Nic!”

She caught his cheeks between her hands.  “Mike.  Kevin is in love with you.”  He froze.  “So man up.  Because Kevin deserves someone like you to love him back.”  She stood up and tossed him his phone.  “And maybe you deserve someone like him, too.”

She walked out and went back to her room to finish packing, hoping like hell she’d done the right thing.  


  
Kevin turned as Mike tapped him on the shoulder.  The vibe in the van had been weird all day, Nic turning them down any old road, pretty much just driving them in circles, and Mike all but brooding in the backseat as he frantically exchanged texts with someone.  The grey skies that had been closing in all around them started to let fall a light shower of rain that pattered off the windscreen.

“Okay, okay, here,” Mike grunted, sounding pissed off.  He thrust his phone at Kevin.  “I recorded...just listen, okay.”

Mystified, Kevin dug out his earbuds and plugged them in, so he could hear clearly over the sound of Sunshine’s grumbling engine and the rain on glass.

His fingers tightened as he heard the words that Mike had recorded over a simple line of an acoustic guitar.  It was a new song, something Kevin hadn’t even heard snippets of yet.  But it was sung with feeling and the rawness of total honesty.

And it was a love song.

He closed the music player and took a deep breath, staring at his wavering reflection in the glass, before unplugging and handing it back.  “It’s a good song,” he managed.  He could be nice as long as he didn’t have to look Mike in the eye.  “Who’s it for?”

Nicole coughed and Mike made a noise in the back of his throat.

Kevin blinked.  “Oh,” he said slowly, swallowing hard.  They had been tweeting a lot lately, after all.  “I’m sure Chelsea will love it.”

The van swerved on the empty road, tires making a squelching noise as they bounced through a puddle.  “What?” Nic yelped, and Kevin was secretly glad he wasn’t the last to know.

But Nic was glaring at  him , not Mike.  “Eyes on the road!” Kevin told her, gripping the armrest as the van tracked wildly across the narrow back road.  

“Mike,” she said, taking a firm grip of the wheel.  Anything more was lost as a loud  bang had the van shuddering and shaking.  Nic screamed in surprise as Sunshine started careening off to one side.

Kevin held on, feeling Mike’s fingers gripping over the backrest behind his shoulders as Nic struggled to regain control.  They shuddered as they bounced off the asphalt and came to a stop in the wet dirt and grass off the side of the road.

Nic’s knuckles were white, her breathing loud and panting.  Kevin blinked, then both he and Mike were surging forward to wrap their arms around her.  “You okay?” he asked.  “Everyone okay?”

She nodded and pried her fingers off the wheel long enough to kill the ignition.  “What was that?” she asked, visibly shaking.

“Blowout, I think,” Mike said, sounding out of breath.  Next to him, Fendi whined, and Nic was moving, shucking off her belt and almost climbing over the backseat to cuddle her baby.

Mike pulled open the side door and jumped out into the mud.  He heard Kevin’s door open and slam closed again, and they circled around to stand together by the front bumper.  The front passenger side tire was a shredded mess.  “I just checked the pressure on those yesterday,” Mike said, still feeling a little shaky from their near miss.

“It happens,” Kevin said faintly. He tilted his head up as the rain started to fall more heavily.  “Come on, let’s get it changed before the deluge hits.”

They worked together in silence, tactfully ignoring the soft, sad noises coming from the back seat as Nic shook out the worst of it cuddling Fendi.  Kevin carried the jack as Mike rolled the spare around to the front.  The ground was getting slipperier, the rain causing the mud to run in rivulets off the road to where they were working.

“I meant it, you know,” Kevin said quietly as he fiddled with the wingnuts that would unfold the jack.  “Chels will love the song.”

Mike leaned against the tire, holding it steady.  “Why do you think it was for Chelsea?” he asked.  The wind was picking up a bit, blowing wet gusts into his face, making everything a little blurry.

Kevin snorted to himself, wiping his face with an already wet sleeve.  The movement tracked a faint smear of mud across his cheek, and Mike stared at it rather than see the look in Kevin’s eyes.  “Because I don’t think you’d have me listen to it with Nic right there if it was for her,” he said with a shrug, bending down to slide the jack under and line it up with the contact point.

Mike swallowed hard.  “It wasn’t for Chels.  I’ve never even met her, remember.  And it wasn’t for Nic either, for that matter.  Actually, she listened to it first, and told me to give it to the person it was about.”  His heart was thudding and his breath was caught in his throat.  He willed Kevin to finally figure out what he was saying without making him actually  say it.

Kevin gave the jack two hard pumps.  The third slowed down mid-stroke, and Mike bit his lip and waited.  Kevin straightened up and pushed his dripping wet hair back off his face.  “You weren’t....you gave.... me ?” he asked in such a tiny voice that Mike had to look at him, properly.  Mike managed a terrified half-smile and gave a tiny nod.

Kevin blinked.  “Don’t joke about that, Mike,” he said, expression just  closing down so completely that Mike lost his temper.

“I’m not,” he said, loud and heated.  He’d been working up the courage to give Kevin the song all day, even confessing to Sisky via text just so he’d have someone to give him a pep talk that didn’t involve minor violence the way Nic’s would.  He wasn’t sure what reaction he was expecting from Kevin, but this definitely wasn’t it.  Though maybe he shouldn’t be surprised.  “I wrote it for you, idiot!  Not some girl I’ve never met! You!”

“But why?” Kevin wailed.  The rain was splattering off his face as he squared off, face to face with Mike, turning the smear of mud into a dull streak dripping down his neck.  He was wet and grumpy and looked too tired, and Mike felt that now-familiar surge he always got whenever Kevin came near.

“Because it’s  you ,” Mike said with a half-crazed little laugh.  He let go of the tire and stepped up until they were almost touching, chest to chest.  “I want...I want to be with you, and be good enough for you and to...”

He froze as Kevin caught Mike’s face in his hands and kissed him, hard.  Mike chuckled a little in pure  relief .  “Love you too, moron,” Kevin whispered against his lips.

“So sappy,” Mike laughed and kissed him back, right there in the mud and the rain.  


  
“Illinois,” Nic read off the sign.  She slowed as they approached an intersection.  Both Mike and Kevin had offered to keep being driver, but she had insisted that it was time she got back on the rusty horse. “Left or right?”  They’d all felt it, like an invisible barrier, keeping them away from Illinois, from Chicago, where Mike had come from.  They’d tracked up and down, slowly curving around, but had never crossed the border.

Kevin pulled out a coin, ready to flip.  Mike covered it with his hand, and then kissed Kevin on the temple, just because he could now.  “Straight on til morning,” he said, voice thickening.

“You sure?” Kevin asked quietly as Nic watched them in the rear view mirror.  Mike nodded, fingers tightening around Kevin’s.  “This isn’t,” Kevin whispered, leaning in and lowering his voice further.  “I mean, it’s not a...you don’t have to, you know that, right?”

Mike thought about it.  “No, it’s not, and I know.”  He smiled and leaned in, closing the last inch so their heads were resting against each other, temple to temple.  “I wanna show you guys my home town.  Eat pizza on the lakeshore and not want to run away to Canada.”

“Or on a train,” Kevin grinned, glowing as he played along.

Mike kissed him lightly on the lips, smiling as he felt Kevin chase the kiss.  “I could be convinced to run away in a crappy van with two maniacs, though,” he offered.

“Good,” Nic said, and both boys laughed.  They’d almost forgotten she was there.  “Because we’re keeping you, Carden.”  She accelerated smoothly across the intersection, following the signs to the border.

Kevin kissed the side of his mouth, demanding attention.  “Keeping you forever.”

@ShitCardenSays Chicago, we are in you. #HomeTownTime

@ShitCardenSays  To celebrate, here’s a song I wrote.  Hope you like it.   [ http://bit.ly/ghy77t ](http://bit.ly/ghy77t)

  
Mike gripped his phone.  “Done,” he said, feeling both nervous and light at the same time.

Kevin propped himself up on his elbow and smiled.  “Now we wait for the inevitable demands for more.”  He held up the covers and Mike crawled in, curling himself around Kevin and kissing him just because he could now.

“Maybe I’ll make a few calls, book a day or two in the studio, record a few demos.”  He kissed Kevin again.  “You should come too.”  He grinned and accepted a kiss from Kevin in return.  “I’ll engineer yours if you engineer mine.”

Kevin laughed delightedly.  “Is this going to be our version of ‘come up and see my etchings?’”

Mike rolled them over and hovered over Kevin, arms braced by Kevin’s shoulders, just drinking in the sight.  “Is it working?”

In response, Kevin laughed and pulled him down and pulled the covers over their heads.

/end  



End file.
